Almost Airbenders
by The Melon Lord Approves
Summary: Ty Lee needs someone to pose as her boyfriend for a week, and she knows just the guy to help her out. Too bad he's secretly in love with her. Nope, that's not gonna make things awkward at all... Teo Lee feat. Kataang, in the early days of Republic City.
1. Prologue

**Title-** Almost Airbenders  
**Author-** Melon  
**Rating-** T for teen romance  
**Genre(s)-** Romance/Humor/Friendship/Drama  
**Characters/Pairings-** Teo Lee, Harulee, mentions of Kataang  
**Summary-** When Ty Lee gets dumped, things get strange...

**A/N-** This is gonna be three to four chapters long. The first is just a very short introduction to get the ball rolling (and I'll be super honest, the reason it's short is because I promised good ol' Shiney it would be posted tonight, but my new uni semester starts absurdly early tomorrow morning and I need sleep... look at me, being semi-responsible), but the next two or three chapters will be longish.

It takes place about two and a half years after the events chronicled in the upcoming The Search trilogy, which puts Ty Lee and Katara at age 18- with Ty Lee going on 19- Haru just shy of 20, Teo 17, and Aang is about to turn 16.

* * *

Ty Lee wasn't the type of person to get mad very often, and even when she did, it typically didn't last too long. It was characteristic of her family- of her whole nation, in fact- to have sudden hot flares of temper, but it was characteristic of Ty Lee to cool down just as fast. But standing in the wake of the last conversation she'd had with her boyfriend (or rather, her _ex_-boyfriend), Ty Lee was furious. The more she thought about it, the more her blood boiled.

She'd had a lot of boyfriends. Ty Lee was not oblivious to the way men watched her when she walked, or stared at her from across the room, and very early in life she had become a master at getting guys to do anything she wanted without having to work too hard. Azula had called her methods shallow, and maybe she had been right, but Ty Lee had never particularly cared. And so, yes, she _had_ dated a lot of boys, but none of them had been serious. Not until _him_.

Haru had been... well, he'd been different than the other guys. Ty Lee was so used to the egotistical, thick-headed types who tended to fawn over her the loudest, that Haru had been a breath of fresh air. He was smart, and a talented bender without being all flashy and showy about it, humble and full of that warm strength so characteristic of the Earth Kingdom. They had seen each other a time or two in the time immediately following the War's end, but they hadn't really properly met until two years ago, when some work he had been doing with Avatar Aang and Katara had brought him to Kyoshi Island. They had gotten to talking one day, and Ty Lee had quickly discovered that for someone so handsome and muscular, he was surprisingly sweet.

And that had been that. She had wanted to kiss him, so she had, and they had been together ever since.

Their relationship hadn't been perfect, but it had been good. She'd honestly thought he was _it_. He treated her well and put up with her walking around on her hands at all hours of the day and she knew she could rely on him to be there when she needed him.

Or at least, she'd thought she could.

That was cast in some doubt now, what with him up and telling her, out of the blue, that he was leaving her. For _Katara_. Who, as far as Ty Lee knew, was perfectly well-ensconced in a happy relationship.

"_I tried. I did. And you're great, Ty, you really are,_" he'd assured her. As if that weren't the most condescending thing she'd ever been told (and she'd been on the receiving end of a lot of condescension in her life)! "_But the thing is... I think it's always been her, for me. I know it's a long shot, but I have to try._"

Talk about adding insult to injury!

And the more she thought about it, the more hurt and angry she got. She'd given Haru everything, and all the while he'd been nursing love in his heart for another woman. When she'd whispered to him that she thought maybe she loved him, he'd been loving Katara. When she'd let him take her virginity, had he been thinking of Katara? When she had abandoned the Kyoshi Warriors, a position that had been hard-won and cherished, to move with him to the northern Earth Kingdom, had he been wishing someone taller and darker were living with him in her place? All this time, when she'd been working to build a life with him, had he just been biding his time until the moment when he couldn't stand his unrequited love any longer?

Ty Lee felt no resentment toward Katara. She had respect for the other girl and considered her a friend, and it wasn't her fault that Haru couldn't let go of someone he'd never even had. But the tall, handsome earthbender Ty Lee had been sure would be her husband when he finally got around to asking... well, to be honest, she could never remember being this furious. _Ever._

Maybe it was anger. Maybe it was pride. Maybe it was all those years she had spent as the closest friend and only confidante of supreme puppetmaster Princess Azula. But as her resentment and hurt crystallized, Ty Lee realized that she had no desire to be the victim in this emotional train wreck of a breakup. For her own peace of mind, she needed to show Haru that she wasn't the kind of girl to just curl up and cry when her man left her (even if that _was_ all she really felt like doing). Even though she was in absolutely no emotional state to enter into a new relationship, she was going to prove to him that he hadn't broken her.

And she knew just the person to help her with that: Teo.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N-** So apparently it's Ty Laru, not Harulee. Can't decide if I like that better or not. Oh well, it's not like it matters so much. Everything comes up Teo Lee in the end, as it always must. Also, I'm beginning to think this fic may be a few chapters longer than I originally planned. We'll see. For some reason it just lends itself better to short chapters (at least at this point). And also I may have gotten just a teensy bit overwhelmed by happy founding-of-Republic-City feels from writing this chapter and want to play around with that a little._  
_

* * *

_**Two weeks later...**_

"Um... _what?_"

Clearly, Teo was having a stroke. Or hallucinating. Or having some kind of inner ear problem that was making him hear things. Because there was no other explanation for the words coming out of his best friend's mouth.

He'd known Ty Lee for years, officially. He'd first met her during the week-long celebration following the coronation of Fire Lord Zuko, and they'd run into each other a time or two since, when the inevitable crises that still shook the delicate balance between the nations created a problem that required their talents. They hadn't really been friends, though. He'd known that she used to be friends with the disgraced and fragile Fire Princess, and that she was a warrior with a mysterious and unique skill set. She'd known that he was a cripple who made up for his disabilities with a glider chair and a knack for tinkering that almost rivaled his father's.

He hadn't really gotten to know her, though, until about a year and a half ago. After she left the Kyoshi Warriors and moved to the northern Earth Kingdom, she and Haru had settled, not entirely by chance, in the same village Teo had called home ever since leaving the Air Temple shortly after the war. That was when he'd first really experienced Ty Lee in all her glory.

And glorious she was. She was sweet and funny (sometimes without meaning to be) and obviously she was gorgeous. She was friendly to everybody, even Teo, who was considered something of an oddball by the other members of their little community. It was no wonder he'd fallen hard and fast for her: she was amazing.

She was also head over heels in love with Haru, which was why he was having a really hard time grasping the idea that he'd correctly heard her just now. She had dropped by for what seemed like an ordinary visit at first, and then she'd said it, without any preamble...

"I need you to pretend to be in love with me for a week," she repeated, with good-natured roll of her eyes. "For the inaugural ceremony for the new Air Nation. Weren't you listening?"

Okay. So he had heard her correctly, after all. Didn't help his confusion in the slightest.

"No, I was listening. I just don't understand."

"Really? I thought it was pretty simple, and if _I_ think something is straightforward, it definitely is."

At any other time, Teo would have jumped on the self-deprecating comment. Years spent in the damaging company of Princess Azula had not done wonders for Ty Lee's view of herself. Teo had spent most of the time they'd been friends gently trying to push her out of the habit of presenting herself as unintelligent when both of them knew she wasn't. But right now, he was still struggling to wrap his head around her unusual request.

"I thought you would be going with Haru." He struggled to get the words out without any taint of bitterness.

It was the wrong thing to say, because Ty Lee's posture slumped and her expression became beautifully, tragically fragile. "Well... yes. I was planning on it. I thought he was planning on it, too."

"What do you mean?" he asked, suddenly concerned. Jealousy had no place in his emotions when her lower lip was quivering like that.

Abruptly, her large gray eyes filled with tears. "He left me," she confessed shakily. "Haru just... left."

Teo couldn't contain a gasp of shock. Ty Lee and Haru had been together longer than he himself had been friends with her. They had always seemed really happy together, which had been helpful in keeping a lid on his futile jealousy. At least if he couldn't be with her, she wasn't dating some jerk. Haru was a decent guy, and he made her smile. But now they were broken up?

"I'm sorry," he said, leaning forward to put a hand on her shoulder and hating himself because he didn't mean the words as much as he should.

Abruptly, she let out a strangled little sob and launched herself into his arms. To his amazement, she curled up against him and cried on his shoulder. He put his arms around her shaking shoulders and held her, despite the awkward angle as she leaned across the armrests of his chair.

She calmed quickly, but didn't pull away.

"I'm sorry," she said, still with her face turned into his body. "I don't mean to break down on you."

"No, I- it's okay. I mean, you guys were together a long time."

"I've been more mad about it than anything. It's just, you're the first person I've told, and... oh, I don't even know how to explain it!"

Teo rubbed her shoulder affectionately. "Saying it out loud made it real, huh?"

She finally looked up, and despite her red-rimmed eyes, she was beaming at him. "Exactly!"

"You wanna tell me what happened?"

She bit her lip and looked down at her lap. "A few weeks ago he just... left. He told me he's been in love with Katara all this time."

"But isn't she-"

"Crazy in love with the Avatar? Yeah. But apparently that didn't matter. He said something about _'finally time to stop lying to himself'_ and then he was gone."

"Wow."

"Yeah." Suddenly she looked up at him, and there was something fierce and furious in her eyes that he'd never seen before. It was somehow both terrifying and funny, because although she was genuinely angry, Ty Lee could pull off intimidating about as well as a baby koala sheep. "Teo, I need you to come with me to the colonies-"

"The United Republic."

"Oh, right. I forgot. Well, whatever it's called, I need you to come with me to the celebration and pretend to be my boyfriend. I mean, you're going anyway. So please come with me."

Teo withdrew his arm from around her shoulder.

It was true that he was headed to the capitol of the new state comprised of the former Fire Nation colonies in just under two weeks. Avatar Aang had spent quite some time constructing a new spiritual center for the fledgling Air Nation (which, to both Teo and Ty Lee's unending amusement, currently consisted of Aang and his multi-chaptered fan club, now renamed the Air Acolytes). And after months of labor on the part of the Avatar, Metalbending Master Toph, and a team of artisans of various kinds, the new Air Temple Island was finally complete. An inaugural ceremony and a week-long celebration was currently in preparation, and Aang had invited all his friends from around the world to attend.

And it was also true that the chance to spend a week with Ty Lee, just the two of them spending time together, was a very appealing prospect. Even more appealing was the prospect of being able to act like Ty Lee's boyfriend. The trouble, however, sprang up from that one little word: act. He wasn't sure if a whole week of Ty Lee doting on him the way she had on Haru, of giving him her undivided attention the way she would a real boyfriend, all the while knowing that it was all pretend, would be good for him in the slightest.

"I'm... not sure that's such a great idea," he hedged.

Her face fell. "Please, Teo?"

"Surely there's somebody else who'd be willing to help you out with this?" he suggested, feeling frantic, because he knew he could never resist those puppy dog eyes for long. "Someone, you know, _taller?_ Someone a little more your type?" Not to mention actually in possession of the use of his legs?

She shook her head solemnly. "I could probably find someone. But I trust you more than anybody, Teo. I'm still hurting, and you're the only boy I know I can trust to do this for me and not expect stuff, see?"

Teo felt a set of very conflicting emotions. Hearing Ty Lee express her high estimation of him (even in a roundabout sort of way) made him swell with pride and feel like he could fly. But on the other hand, he felt a funny sort of shame, because he _did_ expect "stuff." Not quite the way Ty Lee meant it, certainly, but he couldn't help it. No boy harboring secret feelings for his friend can.

"Please," she added again, sensing his conflict if not the cause of it. "I need to do this."

"Why?" Teo asked, genuinely curious. "Are you just trying to make him jealous?"

"No! Nothing like that! I... don't really know how to explain."

The look in her eyes, something desperate and needing, would not allow Teo to let it pass. "Try. Why is this so important to you?"

She thought about it for some time, fiddling with her hands in her lap and not meeting his eyes. At last, she said, "After he packed his things, he looked at me and said, _'You'll be okay, won't you?'_ Like he thought I would break. I don't want him to think he broke me."

"So... it's a dignity thing?"

"I guess it is."

"Well, I can understand that."

He caught the flicker of her eyes toward the slots on his chair where the glider wings could be fitted at a moment's notice.

"So will you help me?"

And despite all his misgivings, despite the very certain knowledge that this whole plan was a very bad idea, Teo couldn't turn her down. "I suppose you're not leaving me much choice," he said with a teasing roll of his eyes.

She let out a squeal of delight and threw her arms around him in an exuberant hug. "Thank you! Thank you thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she exclaimed. "Oh, you're the best!" Then she stunned him by planting a big kiss on his cheek.

Abruptly, she let him go and bounced to her feet. "Oh, I've gotta go write to Katara and let her know we're going together!" she exclaimed. "See ya later, Teo!" And just like that, she was gone again.

Teo just shook his head, marveling at how mercurial she could be. Not for the first time, he was grateful for her high-energy enthusiasm, because it meant she had missed the scarlet blush he couldn't stop from spreading across his face in the aftermath of her kiss.

* * *

**A/N-** Writing this chapter made me ship Teo Lee so hard it hurts. (Like I didn't before...)

Reviews are love, and I always appreciate them.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N-** So I decided to get inspiration for the "Republic City that isn't quite Republic City yet" bits of this by watching some Korra AMVs. Except then I found a really awesome one set to "He Lives In You" from The Lion King and there was Korra and Tenzin and Aang and big statues and ASKIJSKESFISHFVXKQRF MY BBY IS DEAD WHYYYYYYY... So I'm just feeling very sentimental and I kind of want to hug Aang and never let him go because then he won't be dead. It's one of those moments where I almost wish that I had any ability whatsoever to demarcate between reality and fiction, because then I wouldn't be so full of FEELINGSSSSSSSS... and I think some of my genocide!feels from the last chapter of Fireflight kinda leaked into this, too... erk. Characters, y u no do what I was actually planning?

* * *

The new Air Temple was situated on a large island raised from beneath the nameless bay by the Avatar himself. The island was in view of three of the former colonies, collectively known as the Hu Xin Province by the Fire Nation and the Han-Di Canton by the Earth Kingdom, which surrounded the head of the bay. The three small cities had grown from their humble beginnings almost a century earlier, growing in both wealth and size until they began to blend together at the edges. Being a commercial center almost large enough to rival Omashu, the ex-colonies had become an unofficial hub for political activity in the brand new United Republic.

It wasn't the geopolitical significance of the area that had Ty Lee bouncing up and down like an overexcited gopher-squirrel, however. That honor went to the view.

She was standing at the rail of the ferry as it made steady progress across the sparkling waters of the bay, eyes gleaming and practically trembling with excitement. She exclaimed over every new and exciting thing she spotted, taking in the experience with a sense of wonderment and enthusiasm that was entirely her own. Teo, for his part, fondly watched her watching the landscape.

While most of the people flocking to the city for the celebration commemorating the founding of the new Air Nation were staying in the city on the bay, a select few had been invited to stay on the newly-christened Air Temple Island itself. These included a handful of the most important dignitaries from the other three nations, as well as the Avatar's personal friends. Teo and Ty Lee were among this lucky company, and as such were being ferried across the water to join their other friends on the grand rocky island.

Ty Lee had captured most of Teo's attention with the way she had climbed up onto the metal rail and was standing there with her face to the wind and her grey eyes sparkling in the morning sun, completely oblivious to the sway of the boat as the waves rocked it, balance perfect as always. But what little attention he could spare from her, he devoted to watching the temple as it slowly grew larger in his field of vision.

The island itself was beautiful. It was formed of gorgeous white and grey granite that Aang had raised from beneath the bay, and although the little land mass was only a few months old, it was visibly covered with lush grass and little trees.

And as for the temple... _well_. It occupied only a fourth of the island, but it was grand and lovely. The architecture was markedly different from both the Northern and Western Air Temples, with which Teo was familiar. From what he'd been told, it was more akin to the Eastern Air Temple in design, beautifully wrought of wood and stone and featuring a single grand spire which rose gracefully into the blue autumn sky. Teo couldn't make out the details clearly from this distance. but he'd seen the blueprints at various stages over the last year and a half when Aang had consulted his father about particular details, and he knew for a fact that the whole temple was a work of art. With a wry shake of his head, Teo thought that no one but Aang could have pulled it off in such a short amount of time. One thing was for certain: the Avatar's gift for making talented and loyal friends wherever he went had certainly worked in his favor in this instance.

Ty Lee had ceased her high-wire wanderings for the most part (well, if you counted pausing upside-down while standing on her hands to stare at the temple "ceasing"). It seemed that her excitement over the sights had subsided into a rare quiet awe. "It's really amazing, isn't it?"

"It really is," Teo agreed.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the island, in the high spire of the temple, Aang was staring out the window at the approaching ferry. A casual observer would have thought the sixteen-year-old Avatar was actually watching what he was looking at. To the casual observer, he appeared calm, perhaps even a little excited for what was coming in the days ahead.

Katara was not a casual observer. She had been watching him from the doorway for a few minutes, taking in the sight of him. She knew him so well after so many years together- well, perhaps not so terribly many, really, but she had known him for four years and loved him for most of that time and could read him like an open page. Despite the placid expression on his face she took notice of the slight furrowing of his eyebrows, the nervous tapping of one long, graceful index finger against the marble. Something was on his mind.

Not that she needed to look at him now to know that. She had known when Aang had suddenly vanished over an hour ago from the bustle of preparation going on downstairs.

Finally, she broke the silence. "Have you been here this whole time?"

Aang jumped a foot in the air and whirled around with a startled look on his face, further confirmation that he was out of sorts, because she had been sure he would have sensed her through the gift of earth-sight Toph had taught him.

"Katara!" he exclaimed. "I didn't-"

"You really are distracted," she interrupted him, chuckling. She crossed the little octagonal room in a few steps to join him at the window.

He looked back out the window, and she was amused to see an embarrassed flush creep across his face at having been caught off-guard so easily. "How long were you standing there?"

"Only a couple minutes. You disappeared awhile back, and I got worried."

He nodded mutely, his gaze trained on some spot in the distance.

"Who's on the ferry?" she asked softly.

"I'm not sure. Zuko and Mai aren't supposed to arrive until tomorrow, and neither are most of the dignitaries from the other nations."

"Well, Sokka and Suki are already here, and so are Haru and his family."

"Hm. Must be everybody else, then," he said with a forced chuckle.

Silence fell between them and it quickly became apparent that, as usual, Aang wasn't going to talk on his own.

Katara wrapped her arms around his torso from behind in a familiar, affectionate embrace. He was getting so tall now that she could only just barely rest her chin on his shoulder the way she used to. She could feel immediately how tense his muscles were, something that hadn't been immediately obvious to her observation but which she felt clearly now, with every inch of their bodies pressed so close together. "What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"Nothing important," he assured her, perhaps a little too quickly. "I just... needed some space to breathe."

She hummed sympathetically, holding him a little closer. "I know this whole celebration must be bittersweet for you," she said softly.

He sighed and leaned his head against her own. "I guess it is," he said. "I'm... happy. I am. The official founding of a new Air Nation is a good thing, and a big step in restoring the balance of the world. But..."

"But you miss it," she filled in for him, when he seemed to falter. "You miss _them_. No matter what we do, no matter how well you teach the Acolytes the ways of your people, it's not going to be the same."

"No. It isn't."

He was silent after that, but Katara knew him well enough to know that he was struggling with himself, with whether or not to say what was on his mind. Aang was a naturally effusive person when it came to positive things. He never hesitated to share a good mood. With his negative emotions, however, it was harder. Although anyone could clearly see his feelings written across his expressive face, he had a difficult time actually verbalizing his anger or sadness. Even with her, he found it hard to share those kinds of feelings. With anyone else, it was next to impossible. She was pretty sure that, ironically enough, Zuko was the only other person Aang felt comfortable talking to about those kinds of things. She had often wondered if that was an Air Nomad thing or an Aang thing. She suspected that it was a little of both. And so she waited patiently while he struggled with himself.

Finally, he said softly, "Sometimes I forget. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning, it takes me a few minutes to remember that it's all gone. For just a little bit, I still think I'm going to get to make pies with Gyatso again, or race Choden around the temple to try to prove who's really the fastest. And then I remember, and-"

He stopped very abruptly when his voice broke on the last word, betraying how close he was to tears. Her heart aching, Katara buried her face against his shoulder.

"I guess it's really been hitting me lately," Aang continued when he had collected himself. "It was easier when it was just teaching the Acolytes the philosophy. But dedicating a new temple, officially declaring the Acolytes as part of my nation... I guess it just makes it real."

"Oh sweetie," she whispered against his skin. "I wish I could fix it. I wish I could make this better for you."

Suddenly, he turned around in her arms, and his hands were on her shoulders and he was looking at her so intently. "But you do," he said. "You do make it better." When she scoffed, he pressed on, "No, I'm serious. Katara, I wouldn't be able to handle this without you. I wouldn't be able to stand it. Being with you... it makes everything else okay."

"I love you," she told him, because she didn't know what else to say.

Aang kissed her, fierce and intense and needy, and she responded in kind. One of his hands was in her hair, the other low on her waist, and her arms were still protectively around his torso. Katara tilted her head, changing the angle of the kiss and deepening it. She felt the airbender in her arms tremble in response. He teased at her lips with his tongue, but before she could open to him, he broke the kiss and just hugged her.

"Have I told you lately how happy I am that you chose me?" he whispered.

"I don't know how much choice was involved," she said, with a smile that she hid against his chest. "You went ahead and made me fall for you and after that there wasn't a whole lot I could do to change it."

Aang chuckled and pressed a kiss to her temple. "I hope so."

* * *

"Welcome to Air Temple Island! You must be Teo and Ty Lee!"

Teo blinked in surprise. He honestly hadn't been anticipating being greeted by name by a complete stranger the moment they disembarked the ferry. But a quick glance around the dock showed him that all their fellow passengers, some of whom he recognized and most of whom he did not, were being greeted in a similar fashion by the members of a little group of Air Acolytes who had come down to meet the ferry.

The young woman who had greeted them was pretty, obviously of Earth Kingdom ancestry if her soft emerald eyes were anything to judge by. She was very petite with a round, open face, and her long brown hair was bound into two loose braids which hung over her shoulders. Teo judged her to be in her early twenties. Like the other Acolytes, she was dressed in the traditional robes in shades of gold and salamander orange preferred by the Air Nomads of old.

"My name is Ananta," she said. "I'm here to escort you to your quarters. Avatar Aang had intended to greet you all himself, but unfortunately he has been... otherwise detained this morning."

Teo raised his eyebrows in a sly look shot at Ty Lee, who giggled in response. Aang was typically extremely reliable, and there was only one person who could distract him enough to prevent him from greeting his friends when they arrived.

"Two guesses where he is," Teo mouthed at her. She giggled again.

"Well look who it is," a voice interrupted suddenly. Ty Lee went a bit pale.

A quick glance up to the top of the dock near the shore revealed an auburn-haired girl in a striking green and all-too-familiar warrior's outfit. There was no mistaking the legendary Suki, one of the members of the Avatar's band of his closest comrades and one of the heroes of the Battle of the Airships. And, up until about two years ago, she had been Ty Lee's commanding officer.

As Suki approached them, Ananta stepped back respectfully, giving them space to greet each other.

"How are you, Teo?" Suki asked warmly. "I haven't seen you in... must be going on a year now, right?"

"Something like that," he agreed. "Are things going well on Kyoshi?"

"We're still a bit swamped with the influx of refugees hoping for a fresh start after the war. My fellow warriors have their hands completely full and our ranks aren't quite as large as they used to be." She cut her eyes briefly to Ty Lee before returning her gaze back to Teo. "But we'll handle it. We've dealt with far worse crises than overpopulation before."

He dredged up a chuckle from somewhere at that, hoping to relieve the noticeably tense atmosphere between the two women. "Yes, I bet you have."

Suki turned her full attention to Ty Lee for the first time since her arrival. "So tell me, Ty Lee, how are you?"

"Um, fine," Ty Lee said, flushing red.

"And how is Haru? Have you two gotten married yet?"

"I, uh... well, you see-"

In all his time knowing her, Teo had never seen Ty Lee so flustered. He understood why, though. It wasn't hard to see that Suki had been disappointed, maybe personally hurt, when Ty Lee had chosen to abandon the Kyoshi Warriors for a man, and he was pretty sure they hadn't seen each other since then. If there was anything Ty Lee hated, it was feeling like she had let someone down. Worse, though, the man she had given up her life for had abandoned her in turn, and admitting to that was sure to be difficult. She was caught in an extremely awkward position, and Teo took it upon himself to help her out.

He reached over and took her hand, feeling her tense up in surprise as he did so. Teo couldn't help but feel a little thrill. It wasn't like he'd never touched Ty Lee before. She was a very physically affectionate person, which meant that all of her friends quickly lost their personal space, but there was something different about this. Even if it was only pretend, it was still an overtly romantic sort of gesture.

"Actually, Suki, Ty Lee is with me now," he said. Teo had never been a particularly good liar, but it was much easier to lie about things that he wished desperately were true.

Suki's eyebrows climbed up her forehead as she looked at the two of them. "Really?" she asked. "I never would've pegged you two as a likely couple."

Ty Lee, having recovered her composure, chimed in happily, "Well, you know how it is, Suki. The heart wants what it wants!" And with that, she leaned down and pressed a kiss to the stunned Teo's cheek.

Completely oblivious to the fact that she had just given her fake boyfriend a mini heart attack, Ty Lee beamed at Suki. "Well, it was really great to see you again, Suki, but we shouldn't keep poor Ananta here waiting any longer!" Looking to the waiting Acolyte, she said, "Thank you for being so patient, Ananta. You can take us to our room now."

* * *

**A/N-** Reviews are like oxygen. They fan the creative flames.


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